According to FBI statistics, bank robberies have increased thirty percent over the past two years—from 6,564 in 1999 to 8,494 in 2001—despite the fact that crime statistics in most other categories have dropped during the same period. The Los Angeles area, alone, has witnessed over 11,000 bank robberies in the last ten years. One possible explanation for the rise is that bank robbery is comparatively profitable, with an average loss of $4,552 per bank, as opposed to $620 for a convenience store.
Despite the dramatic portrayal of bank robberies in the media, the goal of most bank robbers is to avoid attention. Typically, a robber claims to be concealing a weapon in a bag or purse and demands money from a single bank employee, such as a teller or cashier. Hence, other employees do not even realize that the bank has been robbed until after the perpetrator has fled the scene.
Unfortunately, this means that most bank employees cannot provide helpful descriptions of the perpetrator to law enforcement. Even the teller who was robbed will often have difficulty remembering specific details, e.g., height, build, hair color, distinguishing marks, etc., due to the stress of the encounter.
Ironically, even if the teller trips a silent alarm, the police may never be summoned. In common practice, a security monitoring company will first place a telephone call to the bank and ask whether a robbery is in progress. If no one other than the teller is aware of the robbery, other bank employees will often assume that it was a false alarm and respond in the negative. Thus, many bank robbers are completely successful in their attempts, and may continue to rob other banks in an area with little fear of being caught.